Portable switch for tramways



(No Model.)

G. F. LOEBB.

PORTABLE SWITCH FOR TRAMWAYS.

wil I l I? I WITNESSES:

N. PETERS. Phumulmm her, Washingibn, 0.0

Patented Oct. 12, 1886.

INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

GEORGE F. LOEBE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PORTABLE SWITCH FOR TRAMWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,687, dated October 12, 1886.

Application filed April 20, 1886. Serial No. 199,458. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. LOEBE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Switches for Tramways; and I do hereby deelare the following to be a sufliciently full, clear, and exact description thereof as to enable others skilled in the art to make and use the said invention.

This invention relates to apparatus for transferring cars from one railway-track to another intersecting or crossing railway-track, and has for its object the furnishing of a convenient, safe, and readily-operated turn table, which can be easily placed and removed in situations where obstructions upon the usual track make it desirable to temporarily transfer the cars to intersecting or crossing railways, thus avoiding the labor, delay, and risk of injury to cars incident to transferring the cars over ordinary roadways or pavements as is now frequently done in case of fires or other accidents obstructing th'eroadway of railways.

To effect these desiderata, the nature of this invention may be briefly stated to consist of a movable turn-table provided with a central pivot adapted to fit and turn in a stationary socket in the center of the intersection of railway-tracks, and provided with parallel rails of the same gage as the tracks and having in clined ends, whereby a car running upon one railway may be readily driven upon the turntable, and, being turned upon the pivot with the turn-table, may be easily driven from the turn-table upon the other-railway-track, and for the better facility of working hooks or projections connected with the turn-table are arranged to engage in openings in the railway tracks to insure a proper alignment of the tracks of the turn-table with those of the railway.

1 will now proceed to fully and particularly describe the mode of making and operating the said invention, referringiu so doing to the drawings annexed and the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a plan; Fig. 2, a central vertical sect-ion in the plane indicated by the line a" 00 in Fig. 1,- and Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical lengthwise section through a part of the grooved portion of the turn-table rail and the bench portion of the permanent rail, showing the construction of the device for locking the turntable to the permanent railway-tracks.

The same letters of reference relate to the same parts in the several figures.

F F and GGare the rails of two intersecting railways of a street or tram road.

B is a block or stone set centrally and securely at the intersection in the pavement.

O is a vertical cylindric hole or socket in the block B.

D is a pivot or bolt fitting in the hole 0.

A is a turn-table having a central crossbar, A, fitted to turn upon the pivot D and uniting two grooved rails, A also united at their ends by cross-bars A The ends of the grooved rails A of the turn-table A are inclined, so as to permit car-wheels to roll readily to and from the turntable tracks.

On the tracks F F and G G, F F and G G are holes or openings formed in the benches of the rails F F and G G, into which hooks or projections E of the rod or bar E, passing through holes in the turntable rails A engage when in the position shown in full lines in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and when the rod E is raised, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, the projections E, fitting into the cavities E as shown in Fig. 3, clear the rails F F and G G and permit the turntable A to turn upon the pivot D.

WVhen the rails A of the turn-table are in correct alignment with either the rails FF or G G, the projection E, engaging in the holes F F or G G. as the case may be, hold the turn table in that position when a car may be driven upon the turntable, then when the rod E is raised the projections E are disengaged from the holes in one track and the table turned upon the pivot D into line with the other track, and, the rod E being lowered again, the projections E engage in the holes of the other track and the car is drawn from the turn-ta ble to the other track. It is obvious that the turn-table can be used, but with less convenience without the locking device.

I am aware that turn-tables in the same 100 plane as the railway-track for removing railway-cars from tracks in one line to those in another are old and well known, and these therefore I do not claim; but,

Having described my invention,what I claim as my invention is- I 1. In a portable turn-table for transferring cars from one railway-track to another crossing railway-track, the combination of parallel rails having inclined ends with acentral pivot removably inserted in a step or bearing, and the locking device arranged to engage in the turn-table alternately in the rails of either track, substantially as shown, and forthe pur-;

pose set forth.

2. The combination, in an apparatnsfor transferring cars to and from railways having tracks intersecting each other in the same plane, a central step or bearing permanently located in the center of the intersection, and a pivot fitted removably therein, and bearing a portable turn-table having inclined ends, adapted to raise the Wheels of the cars from and lower them to the rails of the permanent tracks, with the locking device arranged to engage in the turn-table with the rails there of, connected alternately with the rails of either track, substantially as shown, and for the purpose set forth.

GEORGE F. LOEBE.

WVitnesses:

J. DANIEL EBY, VAN WYoK Bonn. 

